I will keep this issue of Solo News short as we here in the National Office are crunching to finalize things for the SCCA National Convention, however, there are a few things we wanted to pass along.

Speaking of the Convention, the SEB will be holding their traditional Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, January 30. While we would hope that all of the Solo Community could be there, we realize that is a pipe dream. So, if you have a question you would like to ask the SEB, please send it along to me (email address above) and we will try to work it in amongst the “live” questions at the Town Hall. If time does not allow for it, we will use it as the basis for a Q&A section of the coming e-newsletter.

“Solo News” is NOT the name of the coming e-newsletter, but merely a generic moniker for the short term. In December we asked for your suggestions for a name of the newsletter, and while we got some good suggestions, to be honest we were not overwhelmed with the number of suggestions. Remember, the first person to send in the name selected will win a free entry into the 2010 Tire Rack Solo National Championship.

In the last issue, I mentioned that one of the ways we were going to replace some of the revenue lost from no longer requiring a National Solo Rules book at Divisional and National events was by offering a new and improved optional Solo “license”. While the crunch of the Convention has prevented us from completing all the details to formally launch this, we can give you more details.• It is not actually a license, but an optional benefits card that will be called the Solo Passport, as it will provide the means of access to some special services offered on an optional basis for the serious National Solo competitor.• The Solo Passport will cost $45 for an individual member and $50 for a family membership (spouse or spouse and kids) and will be valid for the calendar year of purchase.• Those who purchased a Solo License in 2009 will be able to take advantage of some Solo Passport benefits, such as early registration, until that license expires. This will allow you to delay the purchase of the new card until a later date, but if you want the full benefits for the entire year, at some point you will need to purchase a Solo Passport. • Quick snapshot of benefits: Annual Waiver photo card; “hard card”ť Early online registration access for Tire Rack National Tour and ProSolo events; 2 weeks prior to access by general SCCA membership. Early online registration access for the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championship (TBA on time frame) Early “Express Registration Check-in” at all National Solo events, which will include one free Test and Tune run or practice start (ProSolo). Decal packet that includes all SCCA required decals. This does not include contingency decals (see below) Additional benefits under consideration.• The Solo Passport will be available soon, so look for an announcement on the SCCA web site.

Also coming soon is online sign up for National Solo contingency programs that are SCCA supported. This will allow not only online initial sign up, but will allow you to edit your “contingency profile” as you change cars or components at various National Solo events. It will be the responsibility of each competitor to keep their profile up to date, as we will use that profile to award contingencies. Look for an announcement VERY soon on the SCCA web site.

Regarding contingency programs and responsibility, it is the competitor’s responsibility to read, understand, and comply with the requirements of any contingency program. This includes the required decals and how to obtain them. We carry many of them with us to Tire Rack National Solo events, but there are many contingency providers that do not provide them to us and require them to be obtained directly by the competitor from the provider. Again, please read about the details for each program.

The 2010 ProSolo Rules, including indexes will be posted on Monday, January 25th.

One last item. We recently received a copy of a new book published for the Lincoln Nebraska airport titled Journey Through the First 50 Years, which captures the key historical moments of the first 50 years of the Lincoln airport, 1959-2009. The last page (2009) features photos of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships under the heading of “Air Park Hosts the World’s Largest Motorsports Competition” and mentions the multi-million dollar impact on the local economy. I just thought the Solo Community would like to know how appreciated you are in Lincoln and they want us to keep coming back. If you did not attend in 2009, definitely make plans for this year as it really is Solo Nirvana.

That is all for now. Thanks for your support of the Solo program and your Club.